A Green Christmas
by Moonsetta
Summary: For the Boy Wonder, napping at Mount Justice isn't all too bad-except during those instances when his nightmares are too "loud" and the telepathic Martian is nearby, mentally connected with the rest of the team. One-Shot. A request.


A request by **tydeerose** at DeviantART:

"lol ya ad if you want an idea for the next one in this mini one-sht series it can be about robin takig a nap at the cave n everyone is talking in the mid link so they don't wake him, but he is dreaming so 'load' that megan reads his mind without meaning to and thus the team sees a memorie of robin's life at the circus. now that would be a cool one!another request i guess lol. just if you have time or find it interesting or something lol"

Going for a different style this time. Note: See if you can find the comic book references in this one.

* * *

Mount Justice was quiet for the time being. A rare occurrence since it was normally filled with an alert here or there about trouble on earth somewhere. A quiet day was a blessed one for the teenagers within.

Kid Flash was nowhere in sight, probably in his room. The main room wouldn't be quiet if he was. Aqualad was sitting before a computer console which was connected to a camera at the perimeter of the mountain and the beach which was staring out over the ocean. The boy's mind was caught up within an internal debate.

He was thankful that the others had not noticed the notebook he had been carrying. Ensuring that no one was watching, he opened it and glanced on the inside front cover, running a fingertip over the name written in a dark blue, nearly black marker. He had pressed too hard when he had written in it and had carved the letters into the cardboard. He tried to remember the day that he had written it, but couldn't find it in his collective memory.

Miss Martian was sitting on the couch, her clothes merged into loose fitting pink pajamas while she watched an old silent movie on the television and eating a bowl of popcorn as quietly as she could due to Robin sleeping silently on the opposite side of the couch. The Teen Wonder had come in from a mission in Gotham recently and had promptly fallen asleep when attempting to watch the movie as well.

On the side large cushioned chair, Artemis was leaning backwards, her feet set up on the coffee table. Her bow and arrows were leaning against the chair and she was polishing her sword that was lying across her lap, her eyes downward as if reflecting on something that was too much to put into words. Superboy was leaning against the back of the couch, wishing something would happen; an alarm would go off about something happening in Malaysia or anywhere else.

Just hoping for something to happen.

Robin muttered in his sleep and turned his head slightly.

Miss Martian looked towards him, and then towards Superboy, "What time is it?" she asked as she activated the mind link between them all.

The Boy of Steel looked back into the kitchen behind him to the clock on the microwave, the one they had had in the living had been destroyed last week in a debate between Artemis and Kid Flash over who was the best supervillain they had ever fought.

"3:15."

"Training's in half an hour," Artemis mentally chipped in.

"Should we wake him," Superboy asked, his blue eyes floating down to the sleeping young teen.

"He did just return from a mission, "Aqualad reminded them, "I believe we should allow him to get the rest he needs."

"He might be angry if we just shake him awake," Superboy said, walking around the couch and leaning against one of the armrests, seemingly ignoring Aqualad's reminder.

"Hey fellow crime fighters!" Kid Flash yelled as he ran into the room.

In a flash, Superboy was across the room from the couch and slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Please, Robin is sleeping," Miss Martian said through the mind link, which the speedster just realized was open.

He flung off Superboy's hand and rolled his eyes before responding through the mind link like the others, "Then wake him up. Batman said he was going to be here for this training session and the last thing we need is his Boy Wonder out like a light."

"Perhaps your powers could awaken him gently?" Aqualad asked the White Martian.

Miss Martian nodded and telepathically turned off the television before turning to the Boy Wonder, then sucked in a breath when she recognized the unfamiliar openness of his mind. That was extremely unusual for their secretive team member. She shook her head and reached out to calmly bring him back into the world of the conscious.

Open minds were like trapdoors to her though; she should have reminded herself of that.

It was if a white fog filled the room when Robin's thoughts connected to the rest of their minds.

"_MOM! DAD!"_

A curiosity driven little girl, Miss Martian probed deeper into his thoughts, completely forgetting the purpose of opening his mind.

The white fog grew dark and remained dark in front of the team's eyes.

It was like a slideshow playing in front of their eyes. A figure in the distance was swinging across hanging bars with a background circus tent background. It was a young boy, about eight years of age. He was laughing and incredibly happy. The team could only see the boy, even though they heard some kind of applause in the background, coming from an audience they believed.

Then they just saw blood over two bodies. The boy was with them, frozen in shock.

Miss Martian attempted to break through the fog that was surrounding the scenes of their sights but she only got lost in trying to navigate away from the bloody scene.

Another scene followed, two men, one with a pipe and the other with a large knife cutting away red cloth from bruised pale skin.

There was another scene, of a hideous laugh from above somewhere as their minds stood on that in-between plane of reality and dreams. They felt the cold of a dark entrapping room.

For some strange reason, as the Martian tried to break through yet again, they all suddenly tasted expired dog food on their tongues. But really, why?

Then there was a broken board scene in front of their eyes, an object was inside, something they could physically feel as a pale bandaged hand reached out to grab it. There was a dusty window nearby and-

That's when the Boy Wonder opened his eyes and stretched before sitting up. Also, he noticed that all of his teammates were staring at him.

"Uh, hi?"

Artemis was the first to shake off the images in her head, "Practice is in half an hour, Batman should be on his way."

"Oh yeah," Robin said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "I better get ready, thanks for waking me Artemis."

With that, the Boy Wonder left the room and headed down the hall towards their training center.

Aqualad was the next to shake away the images off his eyelids and stared back down at the notebook in his hands, his old name still printed there as if waiting for the answer to an unspoken question that the boy couldn't answer. Kid Flash shivered then sped down the hall after him.

"It's time for training," Superboy said, walking towards the same hallway.

Artemis shrugged, sheathed her sword, picked up her bow and arrows and followed the Boy of Steel. Aqualad and Miss Martian got to their feet and followed, the Martian adjusting her skin to her hero outfit as she walked.

All of them knew that they would never mention it.

* * *

Hope that accomplished the new style I was trying for.

~Moonsetta


End file.
